Method, device, and system for providing indicia on a display

ABSTRACT

A display of an icon includes creating and displaying an icon that provides indicia regarding information relevant to an application to which the icon is assigned. The indicia provides information to a user and is always in the foreground of a display when the application is running regardless of whether the application is currently actively in use and being interacted with by a user or not. At least one expandable indicia is included within the icon. Input provided by clicking the expandable indicia actuates an expanded window for displaying more detailed information. Indicia is also presentable on the icon to provide real time information to a user who is actively using another application such as whether a connection to a server hosting services for the application is lost. A presence state of the user is displayable via presence indicia located on the icon as well.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/670,634.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to communication systems, such ascommunication systems that utilize cellular phones, mobile computerdevices, tablets, laptops, or other terminal devices. More particularly,the present invention relates to a system, method and device configuredto provide indicia to a use of a device that provide importantinformation and messages to a user of the device via the display of thedevice in a space efficient manner. In one embodiment of my invention, adynamic, multifunctional and interactive icon mode is provided for iconsof applications running on a computer device such as a terminal deviceor communication terminal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Applications that run on a computer device such as a desktop computer,laptop computer, tablet computer, smart phone, internet appliance,personal digital assistant, a mobile communication terminal, or othertype of communication terminal device are typically presented as arectangular shaped icon that may include indicia identifying the name ofthe application. The icon may be present on a desktop of the display ofthe terminal (e.g. on a taskbar of the display, on a system tray of thedisplay, or on a background wallpaper illustrated by the display.

When one application is running and in use on a terminal device,typically the display of the device only provides a display of thescreen defined by that application. For instance, if a word processingapplication is running and is active such that a user is currently usingand typing input for the word processing application, the wordprocessing application may be illustrated on the entire display. Newinformation about another running application that is not currentlybeing actively and directly used by a user is not shown to the user. Insome devices, the icon of the running but not currently activeapplication may be configured to flash if visible while the otherapplication is running and actively in use by a user. Alternatively, adevice running an application may flash a pop-up menu or pop-up windowon its display when new information is available regarding theapplication even though that application is running in the backgroundwhile a user of the device is actively and directly using anotherapplication on the device.

I have determined that the current display of running applicationstypically utilized in terminal devices fails to permit an icon of arunning application that is not in active and direct use by a user, whois actively using another application, to be always visible, utilize asmall amount of space such as the space of a typical icon shown to auser, provide direct access to news for the user and provide directaccess to important features provided by the application. I havedetermined that a new method and apparatus are needed to improve thedisplay of important information concerning communication sessions suchas possible communication sessions, attempts of initiating acommunication session, scheduling of a communication session andavailability for a communication session to a user in a space efficientmanner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method of displaying visual data on a display of a terminal device anda communication system is provided. One embodiment of the methodincludes the steps of a terminal device displaying an icon having atleast one of an expander indicia, a notification indicia, and a presencestate indicia illustrated thereon on a display of the terminal device.The terminal device runs a first application associated with the iconand illustrates the icon on a foreground of the display of the terminaldevice so that the icon is on the foreground of the display of theterminal device. The terminal device displays a window on the displayassociated with at least one second application that is unrelated to thefirst application that is run by the terminal device and a user of theterminal device is actively using by providing input to the terminaldevice that is associated with the at least one second application sothat the icon is within the foreground of the display of the terminaldevice. The terminal device also receives presence state data from afirst server to which the terminal device is communicatively connectedand updates the presence state indicia of the icon in response to thereceived presence state data.

Other embodiments of the method may also include the steps of theterminal device displaying an icon having expander indicia, notificationindicia and presence state indicia illustrated thereon on a display ofthe device, the terminal device illustrating a portion of the displayedicon folding away from one of the notification indicia, presence stateindicia, and expander indicia upon a determination that input indicatesa pointer is over that indicia to provide a more complete view of thatindicia, and the terminal device illustrating a portion of the displayedicon folding over a portion of the one of the notification indicia,presence state indicia, and expander indicia to partially cover thatindicia upon a determination that the pointer is moved away from thatindicia.

In some embodiments of the method, the terminal device displays a firstexpanded window to replace the icon upon receipt of input via actuationof the expander indicia of the icon. The first expanded window haspresence state indicia, notification indicia, and control indiciaillustrated thereon. The terminal device may then display a secondexpanded window adjacent to or as a replacement for the first expandedwindow upon a determination that input was provide to the terminaldevice via the first expanded window to replace the first expandedwindow or further expand the first expanded window by illustrating thesecond expanded window. The second expanded window has contactinformation indicia displayed thereon and may also include presencestate indicia, notification indicia, and control indicia in the even thesecond expanded window is to replace the first expanded window insteadof being placed near or in juxtaposition with the first expanded window.

The terminal device may receive multiple communication session relatedmessages from a second server or from the first server. The terminaldevice may display a notification indicia to indicate information aboutthese communication session related messages such as providing anotification of unanswered calls, new and unread emails, new and unreadchat messages or newly received and unheard voicemails.

In one embodiment of the method, the presence state indicia is agraphical representation of a presence state that corresponds with apredefined presence state. The graphical representation corresponds withthe presence state identified by the first server in the presence statedata received from the first server.

A communication system is also provided. The communication system may beconfigured to utilize an embodiment of our method. In one embodiment,the communication system includes a first server and a first terminaldevice that is communicatively connected to the server. The firstterminal device displays an icon having at least one of expanderindicia, notification indicia and presence state indicia illustratedthereon on a display of the first terminal device. The first terminaldevice runs a first application associated with the icon and illustratesthe icon on a foreground of the display of the first terminal devicesuch that the icon is on the foreground of the display of the firstterminal device. The first terminal device displays a window on thedisplay associated with at least one second application unrelated to thefirst application that is being run by the first terminal device and auser of the first terminal device is actively using the secondapplication by providing input to the first terminal device that isassociated with the at least one second application such that the iconis within the foreground of the display of the first terminal device.The first terminal device receives presence state data from the firstserver and updates the presence state indicia of the icon in response tothe received presence state data.

For some embodiments of the system, the icon also has at least onefunction indicia. Each of the function indicia is associated with arespective function of the first terminal device defined by the firstapplication that is actuatable via user input provided to actuate thatfunction indicia. The first terminal device displays communicationsession advisory indicia adjacent the first icon in response toreceiving data for establishing a communication session with a secondterminal device received from a second server. The communication sessionadvisory indicia comprises information relating to the communicationsession. The first terminal device displays actuatable feature indiciaadjacent the communication session advisory indicia upon a determinationthat a pointer is positioned on the display over the communicationsession advisory indicia. The actuatable feature indicia is actuatableto actuate a feature of the first terminal device for communicating withthe user associated with the second terminal device to establish thecommunication session with that user. The first terminal device candetermine a communication error occurred between the first terminaldevice and one of the first server and the second server to which thefirst terminal device communicates when running the first application.The first terminal device displays the notification indicia on the iconupon determining that the communication error occurred to provideindicia indicating that the communication error occurred. The firstterminal device determines the communication error was resolved and thefirst terminal device subsequently removes the displayed notificationindicia from the icon. The first terminal device determines that one ofthe function indicia is actuated via input provided to the firstterminal device and the first terminal device performs one of initiatinga phone call, initiating an email, and initiating a text message inresponse to the received input that actuated the one of the functionindicia.

Other details, objects, and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent as the following description of certain present preferredembodiments thereof and certain present preferred methods of practicingthe same proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Present preferred devices, systems, and apparatuses for providingcommunications between multiple communication devices are shown in theaccompanying drawings and certain present preferred methods ofpracticing the same are also illustrated therein. It should beunderstood that like reference numbers used in the drawings may identifylike components.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a communicationsystem.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a communicationterminal. It should be understood that the diagram of FIG. 2 may providean exemplary illustration of each of the first terminal device andsecond terminal device of the communication system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a server. Itshould be understood that the diagram of FIG. 3 may provide an exemplaryillustration of each of the first server and second server of thecommunication system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a display thatincludes an icon for an exemplary embodiment of an application run onthe first terminal device. Optional functional indicia 38 j and anactuatable flyout window 38 w that is displayable adjacent the icon whenthe functional indicia is actuated is illustrated in broken line in FIG.4.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a display thatincludes an a first expanded window that is actuatable from inputprovided via the icon shown in FIG. 4 for the exemplary embodiment ofthe application run on the first terminal device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a display thatincludes a second expanded window that is actuatable from input providedvia the first expanded window shown in FIG. 5 for the exemplaryembodiment of the application run on the first terminal device.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a display thatincludes indicia indicating a communication session request is received.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of providingindicia that provides information for at least one application runningon a terminal device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of a displayedicon having a portion of the icon being illustrated as folded over topartially cover indicia shown on the icon.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of a displayedicon shown in FIG. 9 having a portion of the icon illustrated as beingfolded away from the indicia partially shown in the icon of FIG. 9 tomore completely illustrate the indicia shown on the icon that waspartially covered in FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PRESENT PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-8, a communication system includes a first terminaldevice 7 and a second terminal device 12 that are communicativelyconnected to a first server 10. A voice mailbox device 14 may also becommunicatively connected to the first and second terminal devices 7,12, via a communication connection with the first server 10.Alternatively, the first server may provide voice mailbox functionalityas well as host other services. In some embodiments of the system, oneor more other servers such as second server 11 will be communicativelyconnectable to the first server 10 to assist the first server 10 inproviding services to the terminal devices connected to the first server10 or will communicate to the terminal devices via a communicationconnection with the first server 10.

The terminal devices and first and second server and voice mailboxdevice may all be elements of a network 5 such as a large area networkor enterprise network. Access points (not shown) such as wireless accesspoint, base stations, or routers, and other network nodes may also beincluded in the network. The communication terminal devices such as thefirst and second terminal devices 7, 12 may be communicativelyconnectable to the servers and other network elements via access pointsto which they are connected or assigned. It should be appreciated thatcommunication connections between different network elements may includea path of communication that traverses an access point (not shown) aswell as other network nodes to define the communication path. Forexample, in some embodiments it is contemplated that the first terminaldevice 7 will be communicatively connected to an access point to providea network connection for the first terminal device 7 so the firstterminal device 7 can communicate with the network 5, nodes of thenetwork 5 such as the first and second servers 10, 11, and otherterminal devices connected to the network 5. In some embodiments, thefirst terminal device 7 and second terminal device 12 as well as othercommunication terminals may have separate communication connections withthe first server 10 and the at least one second server 11 that may eachhost other services renders to those terminal devices. Such optionalcommunication connections are shown in broken line in FIG. 1.

The first terminal device 7 and second terminal device 12 may each be atablet, a mobile cellular phone, an internet appliance, a laptopcomputer, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a mobile computerdevice, or other communication terminal. As may be appreciated from FIG.2, the first and second terminal devices may each include a processorunit 31 that is communicatively connected to a first transceiver unit32, a second transceiver unit 33, at least one input device 34, memory35, a microphone 36, a display unit 38 and a speaker 39. The firsttransceiver unit 32 may include a receiver unit and a transmitter unitfor transmission and reception of data via a cellular network, awireless network connection, or other network connection. The secondtransceiver unit 32 may be configured to form a wireless connection viaa near field communication, a Bluetooth compliant communication, orother type of wireless communication mechanism or permit a wiredconnection such as a wired connection made via a universal serial busconnection, for example. In some embodiments, the terminal device mayinclude additional transceiver units as well.

The processor unit 31 may be a central processing unit such as amicroprocessor, interconnected microprocessors, or other hardwareprocessor element. The memory 35 may be a non-transitory computerreadable medium that has at least one application 37 stored thereon thatdefines a method that is performed by the terminal device, such as forexample the method shown in FIG. 8. The memory 35 may include a harddrive, a flash drive, an optical disk or a hard disk or other type ofcomputer readable medium that can stores data for a non-transitoryperiod of time. The speaker 39 may emit audio and the microphone 36 maybe an input device that records audio emitted by a user for receivingthat audio data. The display unit 38 may be a liquid crystal display orother display device. The display unit 38 may be configured as a touchscreen display that functions to output data visually while alsopermitting a user to provide input by touching different portions of thedisplay. The input device 34 may be a button, keyboard, mouse, or othertype of input device a user may utilize to provide input to the device.

It should be understood that the first and second servers may each be acomputer device such as a workstation computer or other type of computerdevice that hosts one or more services to terminal devicescommunicatively connected thereto. For instance, the first server 10 mayoversee, manage, or monitor communication services such as voicecommunication sessions, instant message sessions, and emailcommunications, and the second server 11 may be responsible for hostingpresence services that identify and communicate active presences ofusers registered with the second server 11. In one embodiment, thesecond server 11 may provide the current presence state of users ofdifferent terminal devices so that the first server 10 can providepresence states for those users to the terminal devices forcommunicating those presence states to the users of those devices andother users of other devices that are registered with the second server11. It should be appreciated that any particular user may be registeredwith the second server and be associated with multiple differentterminal devices such as, for example, a user that is associated with acellular phone, a desktop computer and a laptop computer that the usermay use when working as an employee for a business that oversees andcontrols the network 5.

As may be seen in FIG. 3, the first server 10 and second server 11 mayeach include a first transceiver unit 53 that is communicativelyconnected to a processor unit 52. The processor unit 52 may also beconnected to memory, such as non-transitory memory. The memory 55 mayhave at least one application 57 stored thereon that includes programcode that defines instructions that define a method that the serverperforms when the processor unit 52 executes the application 57. Itshould be understood that the memory 55 may also include one or moredata sets such as databases or other data that contains information thatmay be accessed to monitor communication sessions of different users,monitor presence states of different users, route calls, redirectcommunications, or provide other services hosted by the first server 10or second server 11. The first transceiver unit 53 may be configured topermit communications to be established between the server and multiplecommunication terminal devices so that one or more communicationsessions may be monitored or may be established, maintained andmonitored in response to a request to call or otherwise form acommunication session with another device that is received by the firstserver 10. For instance, if the server is a presence server such as thesecond server 11 in some exemplary embodiments of the system, the firsttransceiver unit may permit the server to monitor activities of a useron his or her devices that are registered with the server to identify acurrent presence state of that user.

As another example, if the server may function as the first server 10 insome embodiments of the system and monitor communication sessions of auser. The server for such embodiments may communicate with the differentterminal devices to monitor ongoing and attempted communication sessionrelated activities to record information about those activities andprovide real time information about those activities. In someembodiments, the server may also function as a switch device, softswitchor private branch exchange and provide communication sessionestablishment and maintenance services. In other embodiments, the servermay communicate with such a switch device to monitor such communicationsessions.

The first terminal device may be configured to have a display unit 38emit or output a display 38 a. The display 38 a may include a backgroundimage or wallpaper in one mode that also includes a plurality of iconsprovided thereon. A user may utilize a mouse, stylus, or a finger on atouch screen display to actuate an icon to open the application assignedto the icon for activating or initiating the running of thatapplication. Thereafter, a user may interact with the active applicationrunning on the device.

The display 38 a may illustrate a first icon 38 b that includes one ormore notification indicia 38 b, an expander indicia 38 c that isactuatable for expanding the icon so that a first expanded window 38 fis shown instead of the first icon 38 b and a present state indicia 38e, which may provide indicia indicating the current presence state ofthe user of the terminal device that is communicated to other terminaldevices via a presence service. The expander indicia 38 c may be a starshape shown in a lower corner of a rectangular shaped icon that isillustrated as partially covered until a mouse or finger is positionedover that covered indicia as may be appreciated from the exemplaryillustrations provided in FIGS. 9-10. After the pointer, stylus orfinger is positioned over the covered indicia, the icon may display afolding away of a covering portion of the icon to provide a full imageof the star shape indicia used for the expander indicia 38 c. If a mousepointer or other pointer is moved away from the indicia, the first iconmay display a portion of the folded away icon folding back over theexpander indicia 38 c to partially cover that indicia. Such actuationand display of a folding away effect and a folding over effect may beprovided for other indicia that is shown on the first icon 38 b as wellsuch as, for example, at least one function indicia 38 j.

The expander indicia 38 c may be actuatable so that after a click on theexpander indicia 38 c that can occur from a mouse pointer highlightingor pointing to the expander indicia 38 c and a user providing input toactivate that indicia, or a user pressing his or her finger on the areaof the display 38 a over the image of the indicia, a first expandedwindow 38 f is shown on the display 38 a and replaces the first icon 38b.

The presence state indicia 38 e may be a graphical image or othergraphical representation representing one of a number of representationsselected from the group consisting of

and other types of representational indicia. Each representationalindicia type may indicate a different presence state according to apredefined presence state definition. For instance, a representation ofa building may indicate the user is working from home, a representationof a person with a diagonal line may indicate a user is currentlytraveling, and a representation of one person or two persons mayindicate the user is in a type of communication session such as atelephone call or conference call. The presence state may be determinedby the first server 10 or may be a presence state based on presencestatus information the first server 10 obtains from a presence serversuch as the second server 11 via communications exchanged between thefirst and second servers 10, 11. The different presence status may beany of a number of predefined statuses such as in a meeting, onvacation, out of the office, at home, sick, break, or traveling.

Notification indicia 38 d may also be shown. For instance, thenotification indicia 38 d may be shown in an upper corner of the firsticon 38 b adjacent to a central presence state indicia 38 e and aboveand to one side of the expander indicia 38 c. The notification indicia38 d can be a graphic such as one type of image selected from a group ofpredefined images to identify a current state of the running applicationor information that is significant to the running of the application.For instance, the notification indicia 38 d may not be present if theapplication is running and the first terminal device 7 has nocommunication problems or service problems with the first server 10. Ifan issue arises, such as a communication failure with the first server10 or a failure to obtain update presence status information from thefirst or second server 10 or 11, the notification indicia 38 d may beshown. There may be a different graphical image depending on the errorthat is defined to correspond with a predefine error. For instance, alightning bolt could be illustrated to represent a communication failurewith the first server 10.

If the expander indicia 38 c shown on the first icon 38 b is actuated,the first expanded window 38 f may be shown and may replace theillustrated first icon 38 b on the display 38 a. The first expandedwindow 38 f may show notification indicia 38 d, presence state indicia38 e and expander indicia 38 c. The expander indicia 38 c shown in thefirst expanded window 38 f may be a similar image or the same image ascompared to what is shown on the first icon 38 b or a new image. Thenotification indicia 38 d may be a new image or the same image and thepresence state image may be the same image as shown on the first icon atthe time the opening of the first expanded window 38 f was actuated. Ofcourse, if the presence state or notification indicia needs changed dueto a new occurrence, the image may be updated to accurately reflect thenewly obtained information about that information. The images for thenotification indicia, presence state indicia and expander indicia 38 d,38 e, and 38 c may be shown in different locations and have a differentrelative size than as that shown in the first icon 38 b.

The first expanded window 38 f is larger in surface area on the display38 a than the first icon 38 b. The first expanded window 38 f may alsoinclude a plurality of control indicia 38 g that may include illustratedbuttons or other indicia that provide a control function or otherwiseactuate a feature provided by the application being run by the terminaldevice. For instance, the control indicia 38 g may include a buttonrepresenting a voice mail message feature that causes the terminaldevice to connect to the mailbox device assigned to the user upon thatbutton being actuated via entered input so that a user can access his orher voice mail message if actuated. Different control indicia may beshown that provides for different features. For instance, indicia mayrepresent a button for actuating a phone call, a different button may beillustrated that is actuatable for initiating an instant message sessionor for drafting a short message service message (e.g. a text message),another button may be displayed that permits a search of emails tooccur, yet another message may provide access to the user's emails. Abutton for options that may be changed by a user or an icon representingan address book of the user or a calendar of the user may also beillustrated within the control indicia 38 g.

Expander indicia 38 c may also be shown as a button instead of anexpandable star or other shape as shown on the first icon 38 b. Theexpander indicia 38 c of the first expanded window 38 f may be actuatedto cause a second expanded window 38 h to be illustrated to replace orsupplement the first expanded window 38 f upon the entering of use inputthat actuates the expander indicia (e.g. a pointer is positioned on theexpander indicia and input is provided to the terminal device to actuatethat indicia or a user presses the touch screen display to actuate thatindicia). The second expanded window 38 h may include the first expandedwindow and also include a supplemental expansion of that window that islocated below the first expanded window 38 f and includes differentinformation such as contact information indicia 38 i or otherinformation. The contact information indicia 38 i may include contactinformation of different other users in the address book associated withthe user of the terminal device or may include information or indiciathat is actuatable to initiate a communication session with suchpersons. For instance, indicia that is actuatable to call or initiate anemail or initiate an instant message session or to initiate the sendingof a text message to another person or another device associated withthat person may be shown within the contact information indicia 38 i.

Alternatively, the second expanded window 38 h may replace the firstexpanded window with a larger window graphic and include the above notedindicia as well as other indicia.

A user may actuate indicia to close the second expanded window 38 h sothat the first icon 38 b replaces the second expanded window. The firstexpanded window 38 f may also include such actuatable indicia.Additionally, the actuation of the expander indicia 38 c may beconfigured to permit a closing of the supplemental portion of the secondexpanded window so that only the first expanded window is present. Insome embodiments, the first expanded window 38 f and second expandedwindow 38 h may also be closed such that the first icon 38 b replacesthat open expanded window upon a predetermined amount of time passingwithout a user providing input to the terminal device that requiresactuation of any indicia of the application or other feature of theapplication. After the predetermined amount of time elapses, the firsticon 38 b may be shown and the first or second expanded window may beremoved from the display 38 a.

It should be understood that the size and shape of the first icon 38 bis smaller than the first expanded window 38 f Additionally, the sizeand shape of the first expanded window 38 f is smaller than the size andshape of the new second expanded window 38 h or the view of the firstand second expanded windows being shown at the same time (e.g. thesecond expanded window is located below the first expanded window toprovide a unitary second expanded window).

In some embodiments, the first icon 38 b may also include at least onefunction indicia 38 j that is highlightable or actuatable to provide asupplemental larger display view of a particular function provided bythe application to which the first icon 38 b is assigned. For instance,the function indicia 38 j may be associated with contact informationsuch as most recently contacted users or people predefined as beingpreferred contact people for the user of the terminal device.

If a finger is pressed on the function indicia 38 j or the functionindicia 38 j is otherwise actuated, a larger flyout window 38 w may bedisplayed for a predetermined amount of time that illustrates certaininformation about those persons and is actuatable to initiate acommunication session to a device associated with that person. Indiciaidentifying the different personnel may be or include a graphicidentifying the last known presence state of that person via predefinedpresence state graphics. More detailed information about a particularperson may be obtained via actuation of the indicia for that person(e.g. a pressing of a portion of the display illustrating that indiciaor a pointer being moved to that indicia and subsequently entering inputsuch as a mouse click to actuate that indicia or a mouse over of thatindicia such that a point merely has to be located over the indicia toprovide the actuation of the indicia). The more detailed information maybe illustrated on the display 38 a via a flyout window 38 w or flyoutdisplay as soon as the indicia is actuated.

It should be understood that the first icon 38 b is configured to permiteasy access to the running application assigned to that icon withouthaving to utilize a full opening of a large window for the applicationor requiring the full application to be loaded and executed by theprocessor. Further, the first icon 38 b may be configured so it isalways displayed in the foreground of the display 38 a regardless of anyother applications that may be actively running or being currentlyactively used and interacted with by a user so that the user isconstantly apprised of information relevant to the service offered bythe application such as events related to efforts to attempt tocommunicate with that user. The first icon 38 b may be sized to providesuch information to the user in a way that provides a summary ofimportant information without detrimentally distracting the user fromutilizing other applications being run on the user's terminal device.

If the terminal device receives a communication session request from thefirst server 10 that was initiated by the second terminal device 12, acommunication session advisory indicia 38 k may be displayed. Suchindicia may be shown as a flyout window or image adjacent the firsticon. The communication session advisory indicia 38 k may includeindicia providing the name of the person that submitted the request fora communication session and the address of the device that person isusing to make that request. For instance, a name of a person and thephone number of the device that person is using to make a call forestablishing a voice call or a video call with the user of the firstterminal device 7 may be shown. Additionally, indicia that is actuatablefor answering the call or providing some other exchange of informationwith the person or the device that person is using to make thecommunication session request may also be displayed. For instance, abutton for accepting the voice or video call and buttons for sending thecaller an email, a text message, or an instant message may be displayedas communication session advisory indicia 38 k. A button may also bedisplayed that is actuatable for creating and saving a text file thatmemorializes some information about the communication session requestor, if accepted, the communication session held upon accepting thatrequest.

The communication session advisory indicia 38 k may only displayactuatable feature indicia 38 m such as the email, text messaging ormemorandum making actuatable buttons upon a user causing a pointer to bepositioned over the indicia of the name of the person or address of thedevice that initiated the communication session request. Additionally, acall placed on hold while another ongoing communication session isoccurring or in progress (e.g. voice call, video call, instant messagechat session, etc.) may be indicated in the communication sessionadvisory indicia 38 k.

The communication session advisory indicia 38 k may also include indiciathat provides information relating to different communication sessionrequests that were transmitted to the terminal device or that weredirected to the user. For instance, a circular graphic with a numberwithin that graphic may be illustrated on the first icon 38 b toindicate there were unanswered communication session requests such asphone calls or chat session requests sent to the user or the terminaldevice. This graphical indicia may also indicate that voice mails areavailable for the user. Alternatively, separate graphical indicia may beincluded on the first icon to represent that voice mails are availablefor download or accessing by the user of the terminal device. A user mayactuate that graphical indicia to cause the terminal device toillustrate a tooltip, which may be a flyout window 38 w adjacent thefirst icon 38 b that provides indicia regarding missed calls, new voicemessages, new emails, or new text messages. A user may then actuate theindicia representing the missed or unread communication messages to playa voice message, initiate a phone call to return a missed call, or causethe display 38 a to illustrate a received email or chat message.

The first icon or expandable windows may be moveable about any portionof a display. A user may use a mouse to provide input for moving theicon or windows by clicking and dragging the displayed icon or windowfor example. A flyout may be configured to be positioned on a side ofthe first icon or window that is available for illustration depending onthe location of the icon or window on the display.

It should be understood that other displays associated with theapplication may also be utilized in terminal devices. For example, inthe event the user chooses to open the full application so the entireapplication is loaded and run for currently using or interacting withother features of the application to control the communication terminaldevice the information provided by the first icon or expandable windowswill be provided in another view for a graphical user interface. Theicon and windows may be moveable on a display 38 a of a device via userinput. For instance, any portion of the first icon, first expandedwindow 38 f or second expanded window 38 h that does not have otheractuatable indicia may be a location on which a user may perform a clickand hold action with a mouse to move the icon or a window to adjust theposition of the icon or window on the display 38 a. It should also beunderstood that the terminal device may communicate with any number ofservers in association with running the application and that theterminal device may also communicate with other network elements ornetwork nodes when executing or running the application.

While certain present preferred embodiments of the communicationterminal, communication system, and methods of making and using the samehave been shown and described above, it is to be distinctly understoodthat the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variouslyembodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of displaying visual data on a display ofa terminal device comprising: the terminal device displaying an iconhaving at least one indicia illustrated thereon such that a portion ofthe icon partially overlays and covers the at least one indicia on adisplay of the terminal device so that the at least one indicia is notentirely displayed, the terminal device also having a processorconnected to a non-transitory computer readable medium; the terminaldevice running a first application associated with the icon andillustrating the icon on a foreground of the display of the terminaldevice such that the icon is on the foreground of the display of theterminal device; the terminal device displaying a window on the displayassociated with at least one second application that is being run by theterminal device such that the icon is within the foreground of thedisplay of the terminal device; and the terminal device illustrating theportion of the icon overlaying and covering the at least one indicia sothat the portion is folded further away from that indicia to furtheruncover the at least one indicia to provide a more complete view of thatindicia in response to receipt of input indicating a pointer is overthat indicia.
 22. The method of claim 21 further comprising: theterminal device illustrating the portion of the displayed icon foldingover a portion of the at least one indicia to partially cover the morecomplete view of the indicia upon a determination that the pointer ismoved away from that indicia.
 23. The method of claim 22 wherein the atleast one indicia includes expander indicia, the method furthercomprising: the terminal device displaying a first expanded window toreplace the icon upon receipt of input via actuation of the expanderindicia of the icon, the first expanded window having presence stateindicia, notification indicia, and control indicia illustrated thereon;the terminal device displaying a second expanded window adjacent to thefirst expanded window upon a determination that input was provided tothe terminal device via the first expanded window to further expand thefirst expanded window, the second expanded window having contactinformation indicia displayed thereon, the contact informationcomprising information identifying presence states for differentcontacts, the information identifying presence states being an image foreach contact that identifies at least one of a location and an activityof the contact.
 24. The method of claim 21 wherein the at least oneindicia includes expander indicia, the method further comprising: theterminal device displaying a first expanded window to replace the iconupon receipt of input via actuation of the expander indicia of the icon,the first expanded window having presence state indicia, notificationindicia, and control indicia illustrated thereon; the terminal devicedisplaying a second expanded window to replace the first expanded windowupon a determination that input was provided to the terminal device viathe first expanded window, the second expanded window having presencestate indicia, notification indicia, control indicia, and contactinformation indicia displayed thereon.
 25. The method of claim 21further comprising: the terminal device displaying communication sessionadvisory indicia adjacent the icon in response to receiving data forestablishing a communication session with the terminal device, thecommunication session advisory indicia comprising information relatingto the communication session.
 26. The method of claim 25 furthercomprising: the terminal device displaying actuatable feature indiciaadjacent the communication session advisory indicia upon a determinationthat a pointer is positioned on the display over the communicationsession advisory indicia, the actuatable feature indicia beingactuatable to actuate a feature of the terminal device for communicatingwith a party seeking to establish the communication session with theterminal device.
 27. The method of claim 26 wherein the data forestablishing a communication session with the terminal device is datareceived from a server for establishing a phone call with a telephonyenabled device.
 28. The method of claim 21, wherein the at least oneindicia includes notification indicia, the method further comprising:the terminal device determining a communication error occurred betweenthe terminal device and a server to which the terminal devicecommunicates when running the first application; the terminal devicedisplaying the notification indicia on the icon upon determining thatthe communication error occurred to provide indicia indicating that thecommunication error occurred.
 29. The method of claim 28 furthercomprising: the terminal device determining the communication error wasresolved; and the terminal device removing the displayed notificationindicia from the icon.
 30. The method of claim 21 wherein the icon alsohas at least one function indicia, each of the function indiciaassociated with a respective function of the terminal device defined bythe first application that is actuatable via user input provided toactuate that function indicia, the method comprising: the terminaldevice determining that one of the function indicia is actuated viainput provided to the terminal device; the terminal device performingone of initiating a phone call, initiating an email, and initiating atext message in response to the received input that actuated the one ofthe function indicia.
 31. The method of claim 30 wherein the inputprovided to the terminal device to actuate the one of the functionindicia is pressure applied to the display of the terminal device on alocation in which that function indicia is illustrated.
 32. The methodof claim 30 wherein the input provided to the terminal device to actuatethe one of the function indicia is a pointer being moved on the displayof the terminal device so the pointer is over a location in which thatfunction indicia is illustrated.
 33. The method of claim 21 furthercomprising: the terminal device receiving multiple communication sessionrelated messages from a server and displaying the notification indiciato indicate information about the communication session relatedmessages.
 34. The method of claim 21 wherein the at least one indiciaincludes presence state indicia, the presence state indicia being agraphical representation of a presence state that is predefined tocorrespond with the presence state identified in the presence state datareceived from a server.
 35. The method of claim 21 further comprising:the terminal device displaying a first expanded window to replace theicon upon receipt of input via actuation of the at least one indicia ofthe icon, the first expanded window having presence state indicia,notification indicia, and control indicia illustrated thereon; theterminal device replacing the first expanded window with the icon on thedisplay of the terminal device in response to determining that apredetermined amount of time passed without input being provided to theterminal device via the first expanded window, the icon being displayedin the foreground of the display such that the icon is always within theforeground of the display of the terminal device when the firstapplication is being run by the terminal device.
 36. A method ofdisplaying visual data on a display of a terminal device comprising: theterminal device displaying an icon having a first indicia illustratedthereon on a display of the terminal device; the terminal deviceillustrating a portion of the displayed icon folding away from the firstindicia upon a determination that input indicates a pointer is over thefirst indicia to provide a more complete view of that indicia; theterminal device illustrating a portion of the displayed icon foldingover a portion of the first indicia to partially cover the first indiciaupon a determination that the pointer is moved away from that indicia.37. A communication apparatus comprising: a first terminal device havinga display and a processor connected to a non-transitory computerreadable medium, a first application being stored in the non-transitorycomputer readable medium; the first terminal device configured todisplay an icon having at least one indicia illustrated thereon on thedisplay of the first terminal device; the first terminal deviceconfigured to run the first application associated with the icon andillustrate the icon on a foreground of the display such that the icon ison the foreground of the display of the first terminal device; and thefirst terminal device configured to illustrate a portion of the iconoverlaying and covering the at least one indicia so that the portion isfolded further away from that indicia to further uncover the at leastone indicia to provide a more complete view of that indicia in responseto receipt of input indicating a pointer is over that indicia.
 38. Theapparatus of claim 37 wherein the first terminal device is configured toillustrate the portion of the displayed icon folding over a portion ofthe one of the at least one indicia to partially cover the more completeview of the indicia upon a determination that the pointer is moved awayfrom that indicia.
 39. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein the pointer ispositioned via movement of an input device or movement of a human fingeron the display.
 40. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein: the firstterminal device is configured to display communication session advisoryindicia adjacent the icon in response to receiving data for establishinga communication session, the communication session advisory indiciacomprising information relating to the communication session; the firstterminal device configured to display actuatable feature indiciaadjacent the communication session advisory indicia upon a determinationthat the pointer is positioned on the display over the communicationsession advisory indicia, the actuatable feature indicia beingactuatable to actuate a feature of the first terminal device forestablishing the communication session; the first terminal deviceconfigured to perform one of initiating a phone call, initiating anemail, and initiating a text message in response to the received inputthat actuated the feature indicia.